


A Remarkable Keyframe

by Sapphicdaydreams



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, Modern Setting, Mutual Pining, Senior year, Slow Burn, goofy and fluffy and akward :), newkid!eddie, no angst between the gals its just eddies mom ya know?, no one is genderbent except for richie and eds, only once by bev as a joke, pennywise never happened, some angst but a promised happy ending, the F word for gay is used, the gals are 18, the lesbian AU no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 01:08:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14069604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphicdaydreams/pseuds/Sapphicdaydreams
Summary: Keyframe-n. a moment that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up marking a diversion into a strange new era of your lifeEdna is a sophisticated girl, just like her name, or at least thats what her mother would like to think. Richie is an outgoing lesbian, she's loud and a bit of a mess but somehow popular. What happens when Edna, well Eda to everyone BUT her mother, gets sent to a new school in senior year and sees Richie Tozier in her second period class.





	A Remarkable Keyframe

**Author's Note:**

> // THERE A LOT OF ERRORS IN GRAMMAR AND WORDING RIGHT NOW I APOLIGIZE, I WILL GO OVER AND FIX THEM TONIGHT// i have planned this fic, for AGES, YOU HAVE NO IDEA. i havent had time to start on it until now but i am very dedicated. Reddie as a ship is very very close to my heart for multiple reasons, and as a lesbian i wanted to make a lesbian AU of my favorite ship! I am actually mainly a visual artist so most of this fic is based on my own drawings of this AU ive made in my head. EXPECT ART WITH EACH CHAPTER! i will do my best to embed the pictures in the fic but if not they will be posted on my tumblr ( http://reddieforakiss.tumblr.com )

 

 

Edna is a sophisticated girl, just like her name, or at least that's what her mother would like to think

It was the first day of senior year and she was nowhere near ready for the start of the school year. She took a deep breath as she looked in the mirror and tied her long hair into a bun on top of her head. Ednas mother had always insisted on never cutting her hair and because of that it grew down to her buttocks. Her mother had always said that girls with long hair were the prettiest and regretted cutting her hair when she was young, this she made her grow it out full. But at the same time her mother would also say that “a clean girl is a pretty girl” so she made Edna tie it up. Her mother was full of contridictions like that but Edna had learned to just accept it and move on. Edna smiled at herself as she took out the bobby pin she had placed only moments ago in her hair to keep her bangs back, a small act of defiance that made her feel powerful. She straightened out her pale pink dress that was lined with faux pearls at its collar, it was a beautiful dress but not an ideal outfit for school activities, she thought.

_ Edna's mother handed her a bag with a big smile. "Go on edna, open it!", Edna smiled worriedly, knowing that if she didn't react excitedly to whatever the bags contents were she would be in a heap of trouble. Inside she found a crumpled up pink fabric that when straightened out, appeared to be a dress. She smiled at her mother to reassure her she liked the gift, and this time unlike most of the other times her mother went clothes shopping for her, she actually quite liked it. "Thank you Ma" she went over to hug her large mother and give her a peck on the cheek. "Edna i want you to wear it on the first day of school, we need to make a good impression on this town and you on your peers", her mother said this coldly. "Yes ma, will do", Edna didn't see how it was practical at all, but she agreed with her mother out of a fear her mother had instilled in her at a young age. _

 

Edna's smile faded with a sigh, if she wasn't already a spectacle enough at this new school without a flashy dress on she sure would be now. She splashed some cold water on her freckled face and walked downstairs to a mother still asleep on her pull out chair. _Thank goodness honestly_ , Edna wasn't sure if she could handle her mother this morning on top of all the other stresses that was already building. She filled a cup of water in the sink, taking a sip to sooth her throat from nights rest, then grabbed a granola bar and headed off to the bus stop. Her mother had made her practice walking back and fourth from the house to the bus stop during the last few weeks of summer when they were moving in, just so Edna wouldn't "Get lost and abducted". 

The walk to the stop was nice, calming even, as Edna popped in her headphones and turned on some Brittany Spears. She knew Brittany wasn't exactly the Mozart of pop music but hey, it got her pumped up for the day and that's all that mattered, right?. The streets were mostly empty besides the few other teens slowly shuffling to the school bus, Edna looked around at the new faces trying to assess the crowd. She was new to town and didn't know what kind of people lived here, or what kind of high school environment it would be like. Oh gosh, please let it be more of a  _ Breakfast Club _ situation rather than a  _ Mean Girls _ one. Edna visibly tried to shake the worry away, moving her head back and forth, not realizing that she has just a few feet in front of the stop. Her face turned red and she hoped no one had seen her do such a cartoonish gesture, but she soon realized that all the kids were either on their phones or talking with friends, either way not having seen her. The bus approached with a loud creak followed by a "kahshoo" sound when it stopped, and a bit of a pop when the door opened. An older man was driving the bus and he smiled at Edna, "new here huh?" he beamed genuinely. "Ahah yea" edna replied awkwardly as she boarded. Edna headed all the way to the back of the bus, hoping to avoid any unnecessary contact before school had officially started. But just as luck would have it, all the other kids shuffled into the back as well, _a popular spot she supposed_ ,,, shit. Edna put her bag next to her to keep the rest of the seat occupied and put her headphones in, resting her head on the back of the seat in front of her dozing off a bit. When she woke up it was with a loud screech, the bus had arrived at school. Edna rubbed her face tiredly as she stood up and walked off the bus.

The school was averaged sized and bustling with energy. Teens walked around talking, all in separate groups already. Some kid skate boarded by her which made her giggle, guess this school wasn't so foreign from her old one. When she pressed open the door to the school its insides revealed what seemed to be a thriving ecosystem of people. You had the kids setting up lockers, the couples holding hands after a long summer of being away, and the groups sitting on the floor which annoyingly took up half of the hallway. On the wall was a large list of students names and their advisory classrooms they had to attend this morning to grab their schedule. Luckily Edna had already checked her schedule online beforehand so she wouldn't be quite as lost as she could have been. She searched her her name, k,k, Karpender, Karlile, Ah! Kaspbrak, room 108. Edna shifted her backpack and was off to advisory, luckily not far from the main entrance. She got to the 100’s hall but there was a group of kids all spread out on the floor blocking her way. They all seemed comfortable with each other, laying on one another and laughing. She would have thought it sweet if they weren’t blocking her damn way and making her late. “Uh hey, could you um, move a bit” she asked trying to sound as kind as possible. “Huh?”, a tall girl laid out on her friends lap looked up at her, she had dark black bushy hair and glasses that hide dark brown eyes that made Edna nervous when they made contact with her. “Um could you, move a little bit you are kinda blocking the hallway”, she said this a little more sheepishly than she had intended and looked over the rest of the group, avoiding the taller girls stare. A chubby boy read a book next to two boys (a couple?) cuddling on the floor, a tall darker boy listening to music and a smiling redhead that was currently playing with the taller girls hair that laid on her lap. “Oh shoot! Yea totally go ahead my dude!” The dark haired girl answered with a big smile, “come on guys move for the pretty lady” Edna making her blush awkwardly at being called pretty. The group groaned and shuffled a bit, making room for Edna to continue walking down the hallway. “Um, thank you” and smiled weakly and waved goodbye to the group. “Any time Ol’ Chap’!”, the girl said in a horrendous british accent making Edna giggle. As Edna walked away the girl watched her, head moving with her wandering eyes, but Edna didnt notice. The red headed girl knocked on the taller girls head like it was a door, “knock knock hello? Earth to richie” she said teasingly. “Huh what?” Richie turned around to the red head, a little dazed. “Who was she?” Richie asked in awe. “i've never seen her before”, the redhead responded,”she must be the new girl”, she shrugged. “New girl?” Richie questioned, “know anything about her?” She asked dreamily settling back into the other girls lap.“Rich you know i keep to myself, i just happened to hear about a new girl and that's about it ya fuckin lesbian”, with that she playfully swatted at Richies forehead. “Come on Bevvie don't be so mean, a cute girl comes to school and you DON'T expect me to ask about her?” Richie smiled. “Ur a fuccin faggot sometimes, you know that?” Bev smiled down at her friend. “And so are you my dearest Beverly”, richie said back, beaming. 

Edna continued down the hall, her nerves had been calmed a bit by the interaction. It was nice to know that there were decent people at this school, decent people and cute girls. Edna felt silly at that, senior year was NOT the time to start a relationship with someone, _but damn if that girl wasn't so fuckin cute_. She entered room 108 to a class of teenagers on their phones and an over compensating teacher who smiled wide and greeted her with a firm handshake. “Hi there young lady! I am Ms.Brown, and you are?”, she looked down to check the list of names she held in the other hand. “Um Edna Kaspbrak, with a K” she said kindly trying and failing to return the teachers enthusiasm. The teacher found her and checked it off, “Well miss Edna it's a pleasure to meet you! Now have a seat and i will give you your schedule as soon as announcements come on”, she patted Edna on the backpack and Edna walked to the seat furthest from any of the other kids. More kids shuffled in and the bell rang out, 9:00am. As Edna sat in the classroom, the group in the hall scrambled having not checked the time. “Fuck come on rich we are gonna be late for announcements”, The curly blonde said and pulled up his _(boyfriends?)_ brown haired boys hand. “Okay guys lets skatter”, Richie started running down the hall with the two boys behind, “See ya later losers! Remember, Quarry at 6 tonight!” Richie screamed down the hall. “You got it!” The remaining 3 called back, waving at their lame friends who ran down the hall. They all went to advisory. 

The trio made it just on time, all breathless from running. Richie sat down on the bench in the main office, she was just apart of announcements club to skip out on the beginning of class, plus her friends Bill and Stan liked doing the announcements way more than she did. She figured she’d let them take the reins this year. The principal walked out of his office and went to the announcement speaker and picked it up, Stan and Bill standing excitedly behind him.

A beep beep came through the loudspeakers and announcements began.“Hello and welcome back to school students! I trust you had a nice summer break but are excited to get back to building up your brain”. The students sighed at that, the speaker obviously being the overzealous principal. “Now before i hand it off to the announcement personnel, Upperclassmen please remember to help out any confused freshman you see. You were once a freshman too, you know.”. A shuffling and clicking echoed in the speakers making Edna cringe a bit. A new voice came on, “Well hello hello hello Dairy High students and welcome to your announcements!”, in the background you could hear a faint whispering “s-stan don't be lame”, this made Edna laugh a little. “First things first as Mr. Kleinman said, remember to help out your fellow schoolmates with finding directions. NOW, to get to the fun stuff! Do you like bigfoot? Ever thought we might not be alone in the universe? Do you think the illuminati controlling celebrities? And most importantly are you unsure Mr.Barara isn't a lizard person? Well if you answered yes to any of these questions then come down to conspiracy club! Hosted in room 120 by Richie Tozier every other wednesday”. Edna could hear more giggling in the background, this time a different more familiar giggle. The speakers made another shuffling and clicking noise as a new voice came on again. “S-s-sorry about my colleague. He gets a little t-too into it.” The boy had a stutter Edna noted. “Do you l-like t-t-tacos? What ab-bou-bout enchiladas? Well you're in l-luck because we will have a n-ne-new food truck outside the school this week s-serving up some m-ma-mexican food. Get it while it's hot!”. The shuffling and clicking sound came again, did they really have to trade off every time?. The same voice, which Edna had assumed was the stan that had been scholded, came onto the loudspeakers again. “Do you like moving your body? Want to make new friends? Want a sense of community? Ever wanted to run until your legs give out?”, Another giggle, “well you should join track! Tryouts this thursday after school, we will be meeting in the field house”. Another click, at this point it had gone from oddly charming to annoying. “One last thing”, a familiar voice spoke, the girl from the hallway?. “If you would like to be one of the cool kids that get to do the morning announcements like us, come to room 305 tomorrow during lunch to audition”, the girl laughed and then a big THWAK could be heard. The principal came back on, “Okay folks it's now time for first period, have a wonderful first day back”. A final click. Bill and stan smacked Richie in the back of the head, “w-what did ya do that for?” Bill stammered out, “th-th-this was just an us thing r-remember?”. Stand agreed arms crossed and nodding his head. “Come on guys, it's senior year, why not try and make a few new friends huh?” Richie raised her eyebrows with a smile. “Richie you already have your own club, dont ruin ours”, Stan looked disappointed but not horribly. “S-S-Sweetie i think r-Rich has a go-goo-good point”, bill said rubbing Stans back. “Okay i guess it's not so bad, you're lucky Bill agrees with you Richie”, Stan warned and then kissed Bills head. The bell rang and it was time for first period. They all ran to class, thankfully having printed out their own schedules on Bills moms computer the week before so they could compare them together. 

Edna had AP English first period, in the language hall with the other 300 numbers. The put her headphones in, queued up some music, and made her way to class. She avoided bumping into other kids as much as possible but unfortunately it was inevitable to be pushed around just a little bit. Dairy High was the only high school in the area making it ridiculously over crowded. Soon enough she arrived in the language hall and walked into class. Half of the kids were already in the room, others shuffling i'm behind. An older man looked up from his desk, “First day so its free seating, choose wisely you'll have these seats for a whole six weeks”, he went to look back down at the book on his desk, clearly not excited about the school year starting. The tables were made up of 4 desks pushed together. Edna found her way to the back of the class and sat down at the table, pulling her pencil case and binder out of her backpack and setting it squarely in front of her. The organization of the new school year wouldn't last long and she knew it, so she savored having all her supplies as long as she could. The bell rang and just as it did the last group of stragglers walked in, a few the group from the hallway. Stan and Bill had done their best to get to class on time but they had a valid excuse, Beverly on the other hand didn’t and was probably just reading a book in the bathroom during passing period. Because Edna was the new kid, all the seats at her table had remained open, which meant the last three would have to sit at her table. The stragglers she would come to find, were named Bill, Stan, and Beverly. They gladly took the seats at Edna's table and started chatting away amongst themselves. Stan held Bills hand with one hand and with the other pulled out his school books. Beverly was never one to be prepared so she had to ask Stan for a piece of paper and a pencil which made him sigh dramatically. The three talked about random bullshit, nothing worth remembering. That's when Edna spoke up, “Um, hello!” She said at an obvious desperate attempt to be apart of the conversation. She didn't know what the conversation was about but she was sure she could contribute something. The group didn't answer so she tried again more confidently, thankful for a do over, “Hey there!” She forced a smile. The red head turned away from the conversation with wide eyes, “Oh hey there! Im Beverly, Beverly Marsh”, she reached out a hand to be shaken by Edna so edna took it and shook it weakly. “This is Stan”, she pointed to the curly blonde, “and this is Bill”, she then gestured to the brunette. “N-n-nice to meet you”, Bill waved, a lot less forward than Beverly. “Nice to meet you as well”, Stan smiled with a closed mouth, Edna couldn't tell if it was genuine or not. “oh aren't you the guys from the announcements!” Edna shouted a little too excitedly, “oh, uh by the way i’m Eda”, this was said a little softer. Edna, or well Eda _(Ay-da)_ , was happy to be at a new school because this meant she could change her old name. Her horrifically old womanish name. The decision to go by a nickname had been made that morning but she hadn't thought of one until now. Smooth, she thought to herself. “Ah yes caught us red handed”, Stan smiled and this time she could tell it was genuine, must really like announcements huh. “You did a really great job, you should be a radio star!” Eda said half jokingly, half truthfully. “Thanks”, Stan looked actually flattered but then his voice turned grumbly, “would have been perfect if it wasn't for damn richie”. Bill rubbed stans hand on the table, yep definitely boyfriends Eda thought. “Whos richie?”, Eda assumed she already knew, the girl in the hall, but she figured to ask to be certain. “Oh s-shes our friend. I t-t-think you talked to her this m-morining. The Tall one with t-th-the weird hair” bill said far more calm than his counterpart would have. “Oh her! She seemed nice!”, Eda said trying to make conversation. That girls friends were at her table. This could be her in. This could be her- she heard beverly giggling. All three table members looked at beverly confused. “W-what's so funny b-bev-beverly?”, Ben stuttered out. “Oh nothing”, Beverly said slyly. Eda couldn't help but think she had done something wrong. “Well students welcome to the last year of the worst era of your lives!”, the teacher chuckled out as he stood up in front of the class. Richie's first period was uninteresting, no friends equaled no fun. She had hoped to have at least one of the losers in her first period but alas they were not. 

Class went on just fine, it was mostly silently going over the RIDICULOUSLY long syllabus. When the bell rang out Eda got up to pack her bag, beverly stayed behind with her packing up as well. “Im looking forward to getting to know ya Eda”, Beverly smiled at Eda brightly and eda blushed at her kindness. “You as well Beverley”. The two walked out the class separately and made their way to the next class, Edas was Art. 

Richie pulled out her preprinted scheduled from her skinny jeans pocket and looked at it, Art. She was excited about having art this year, the teacher was great from what she had heard and it was also kind of a bullshit class she could goof around in. Art was in the PE building, which always made Richie laugh, _two opposites it seemed_. The walk to art was nice too, it meant she could get a breath of fresh air when she walked between buildings, something she’d always appreciated. Not to mention it meant that taking smoke breaks would be tremendously easier. When she walked into the other building it smelled like sweaty socks, yuck, but luckily the art room was further down in the building, hopefully further away from the stench. The halls in the PE building were thin and short, all walls lined with the various trophies the teams at Dairy High has won. The school won quite a few trophies considering it was such a small school, but also there was very little competition to compete with around them, so once they conquered a team once it was guaranteed victory from then on. Richie had once considered joining Softball, admittedly just for the stereotype, but had decided against it when she found out you had to do laps around the track before each practice. Richie arrived at art, a little late from her trophy perusing and nature admiring. The door of the art room was colorful, painted flowers and butterflies on and around it. _Cute_. When she entered the room, the entire class looked at her, including one particular cute new girl. Her hair done up made her face look so round and soft, all of her was probably soft god damnit. Richie smiled at the girl. Eda smiled back with a creeping blush, why was Richie looking at her, did she have something on her face?. “Ms. Tozier you're late”, the teacher deadpanned. She was short and young, a long dress on with sandals that peeked out from beneath it. “Oh uh, sorry Ms. Keen, was admiring nature”, Richie smiled awkwardly. Eda stared at her. “Well Ms Tozier,” Eda gulped watching the interaction, “i hope you looked at it good and well because today we will be painting trees!” She smiled and Richie smiled back, Eda sighed in relief. “Now if you would go take a seat next to Ms Kaspbrak we can get started”, Ms. Keen pointed in the new girls direction. Both Eda and Richie gulped as they looked at eachother. Richie walked over briskly and sat down at Edas table, the rest of the students at the table greeting her. “You're, uh Kaspbrak right? Or am i in the wrong seat?”, richie asked awkwardly, she fucking hoped she wasnt in the wrong seat. “No no im ‘ms Kaspbrak’”, Eda said in a tone that mocked their teacher, this made richie giggle. “But id prefer you called me by my first name”, Eda said matter of factly. “So what's your name then?”, richie asked grinning. “Edna Kaspbrak?” The teacher called out taking role, “um its actually Eda, Ms.Keen, Eda doesn't fit me much”, Eda spoke up. “Ah i see, well thank you for letting me know Eda” she smiled at Eda. Richie looked over at her with a goofy smile, “i like your name a whole lot Eda, very fitting”. Eda blushed and countered, “i don't know what that even means but i will take it as a compliment”. Richie extended an arm just as Beverly had, “The names Richie”. “Oh believe me i already know”, Eda laughed out. Richie tilted her head like a confused puppy, _god if she wasn't like a living cartoon character_. Richie narrowed her eyes with a big smile, “oh so someone already told you about the undercover clown brothel? Well i try and keep it hush hush but if you'd like i would consider you for a clown whore position”, richie grinned wide at the creative lie she’d made up on the spot. “Uh no unfortunately i'll have to decline, im quite the monogamous gal”, Eda joked, crossing her arms and keeping the smile on her face. Both girls couldn't help but feel their hearts beat fast, getting along well with who they thought was the cutest girl in school. “Ah tis a shame, i could have offered you a position upstairs , that's where all my best clownies work, you even get a silver clown nose”, Richie stretched her arms up and folded them behind her head with a sigh as she said this. “Now i can't even tell if you're kidding anymore”, Eda giggled childishly which made Richies grin grow so big she looked like the cheshire cat. _A cute girl was laughing at her jokes._ Her heart melted a bit with happiness. 

-“And that's how we will be doing our project today!”, the teacher concluded loudly, Eda and Richie looked at one another worried, they had been too busy talking to hear instructions. “Um miss K? Could we get a repeat on those directions?”, Richie called out to the teacher who was walking back to her desk. Ms.Keen looked back at Richie with a shit eating grin on her face, “oh if only you had listened ms tozier! Figure it out yourself”, she said sassily and sat down in her desk to get on her desktop. “Well shit”, eda said quietly, “we could ask someone for the directions?” She smiled up at Ritchie questioningly which made Richie’s ears burn a crimson color. “Nah Eda i got this, im an expert artEEst”, richie yelled a little too loudly. “Okay Picasso show me how it’s done.”, Eda cocked an eyebrow looking up at Richie again. “Well first off”, richie grabbed the pad of paper from the middle of the table, “you take your paper”, she ripped two papers out and set them gingerly infront of Eda and herself. “Then,” she grabbed the palette and walked over to the paints that were in the middle of the table, “ya squeeze”. She squeezed out all the colors of the rainbow, then brown, black, and white. She walked over to Eda and placed the palette down. “Then you grab some watAiR”, she grabbed one of the preplaced cups of water from the center of the table, accidentally spilling a bit. “Whoopsie daisy!”, richie said now purposely spilling some more water . “Is that apart of the process?”, Eda giggled. “Of course it is my dear Eda”, richie took their papers and cleaned the water up with them. “Richie now we cant use them!”, Eda shouted in a jokingly angry way. “oh no you see THIS way the paper is extra perfect, see all the colors blend together”, Richie dipped a brush in random colors of paint and started splotching them on the paper, the colors spreading and blending into puddles of muddy mixtures. She held up the wet paper swiftly showing it to Eda, “See!”. She had held it up so quick that some of the watery paint sprayed onto Edas face in small droplets. “Oh shoot im sorry”, Richie was genuinely embarrassed, feeling like a fucking asshole. _What if Eda hated her? What if she never talked to her again_. Eda started laughing, “well gee Richie i guess i AM a work of art but no need to add more paint to me” Eda giggled out. She had worded it weird but Richie knew what she meant and honestly she was more busy thanking the gods that Eda was a good sport. “But um richie, you should be more worries about yourself”, Eda pointed down at richie crotch making her turn red in confusion, then she looked down. Painty water had dripped down all over her skinny jeans, soaking them near the crotch and looking like a rainbow period of sorts. “Well Eda its not very nice to point out a girls first gay period. Its poifectly natural for a gay teen my age to be going through changes like that, no need to bully me for it”, richie grinned. Eda looked shocked, _she was gay. I mean she had never really seemed straight to Eda but you never know til you know. Cute girl is gay. I repeat cute girl is GAY._ “Its okay Rich, i got my gay period last summer”, she put a falsely comforting hand on Richies shoulder, “i understand”, she smiled up at richie again. _God what a cute smile. Wait. Wait did new girl just say shes gay? New girl, new fem girl, new girl who is the kind of girl richie always fell for before she found out they only liked dick. New girl liked girls. NEW GIRL LIKES GIRLS._ Shit. Eda's smile faded and she drew her hand away, Richie's awkward silence made her think she had done something wrong. “Why uh”, Eda sat up and held out a hand for Richie, “why don't we go get ya cleaned up huh?”. Richie grabbed her hand and swung herself up, her tallness making Eda almost trip. “Thank ye old chap!”, that dumb british accent was back again _goddamnit_ , Eda rolled her eyes. “Ms Keen! Richie was being dumb and spilt paint on herself, can i go help her clean up!?”, Eda called out to the teacher from the other side of the classroom. Ms.Keen looked up, not fully hearing what Eda had said but regardless she shrugged, “sure why not, but take the hall pass”. “Will do!” Richie called back as the two scrambled out the door. Once in the hall Eda asked, “wait so where is the bathroom? Ive never been here before eheh”. Eda always had to look up at Richie when she talked, Richie being at least 5’10 and Eda being a small 5’2. “Ah yes miss new kid, lemme show you the ropes”, Richie stretched her arms out in front of herself, fingers laced together exaggeratedly. They small talked until they arrived at the locker room. “Uh Richie we are going to the bathroom, remember?” Eda questioned up at the dark haired girl. “The PE building aint huge, only bathrooms here are the ones in the locker rooms”, she shrugged and opened the door. It was empty of course, none of the gym classes taking place until after lunch. Eda walked into the locker room and took it all in, it had a poor color scheme of red and white, the red paint chipping on the lockers. It also smelled horrible, not horrible like dirty socks, no, more like cheap perfume. “Time to get clea-een!” Richie shouted way too loud, knowing they were alone so she could use her ‘outside’ voice. Eda and her walked over to the sinks and turned them on, Eda got some paper towels and soaked them under the water. “Come here Richie, you fuckin' mess”, Eda laughed. Eda kneeled down in front of Richie's pants and started scrubbing them clean, starting at the bottom cuffes and working her way up. When she got to Richie's thighs she stopped and stared, for a little too long, then stood up straight. “You uh, you should probably do the rest”, Eda stuttered out. “Aw whaaat? Ill have you know Eda plenty of girls want their hands on my lady parts you sure are missing out”, Richie took the soaking paper towels and wiped the rest of her pants off. “Richie i barely know you that is really gross”, Eda huffed out in fake distaste. “Hey Eda all friendships need to begin with honesty”, Richie smiled at her. _Damn that smile. Damn that Richie._ “Um, friendship?” Eda enquired nervously, did Richie already consider her a friend? “I uh, yea i figured”, Richie's confidence had faded and she looked down and away, “I figured we were gonna be friends, unless i'm too lame for a pretty lady such as yourself to be seen with”. _Pretty._ There it was again. She’d called Eda pretty. Eda stepped forward and smiled softly, “first off, i am not pretty”, Eda's self confidence was poor and she had never learned to really take a compliment, “secondly, of course we are gonna be friends! To tell you the truth i thought YOU were too cool for ME”. Richie looked up with that bright smile again. “I mean what can i say”, Richie ran her hand through her thick black hair making Eda’s cheeks flush, “im a real cool kid”. Richie flashed Eda a cocky smiled and pulled out another paper towel, wetting it. “Come her my fellow cool kid”, Richie stepped forward and held the wet paper towel to Eda’s face, “lemme clean you up good”. Richie smiled with her eyes closed, avoiding looking at Eda in the eyes as she said that. Richie started to rub the towel across Eda's face, cleaning off all the paint splatters. She noticed for the first time that Eda had little freckles that scattered her cheeks, she didn't know how she missed such a sweet feature before. She also noticed _Eda's nose, the way it was small and  pointed up like a little doll. And Eda's eyelashes, long and butterfly like, could probably wish at least a thousand wishes with those._ In her daze she started rubbing a bit too hard and Eda said, “be careful or you'll scrub the freckles right off my face!” She giggled. The whole time Richie had studied her, she had been studying Richie. _Her nose was long and sharp, it made her look strong. Her cheek bones were more prominent than Eda had noticed before and so was her jawline. Light freckles scattered Richie's face in the most random of places and patterns. And of course those eyes, those deep dark brown eyes, pools of warmth she could fall into for eternity._ Richie and Eda pulled back after realizing it had been too long of a stare for comfort. Then the bell rang. The pair scrambled back to class and grabbed their backpacks running out the door, having not cleaned up their table. Richie ran down the hall and Eda walked, going to the cafeteria via the main stairwell. Richie had thought Eda was following her as she ran but when she stopped to take a breath and look behind her, she was gone. Richie felt a little sting in her heart, Eda didn't like her enough to sit with her at lunch. Richie frowned. Eda walked to the cafeteria, she was hoping that Richie would ask her to eat lunch together but she didn't. Eda guessed that would be moving the friendship too fast, or maybe Richie didn't care for her as much as she let on. Eda frowned.

The rest of the day was a blur for Eda, each class had a syllabus and each class lacked Richie Tozier. When school got out she walked to the bus with headphones in and boarded it. She listened to “hooked on a feeling” on repeat as she thought about Richie. It was a silly little crush, she knew that, but she couldn't help but feel it was something more. When she spoke with Richie it felt like they had met a million times before, old friends starting back where they left off. Her face still hurt from smiling too much which made her smile more. 

Richies day after Art class went on as expected, although having discovered that she had her last A day period with Ben and Mike was nice. As she biked home she hoped that tomorrow she would have more classes with Eda, praying she’d get to see her every day rather than every other. When Richie got home she grabbed a bag of cheetos and ran upstairs, missing her mom that called up to her. “Love ya mom!” Richie yelled back, having not heard what her mom had said but assuming that was an appropriate response. Richie checked her phone and scrolled through instagram to pass the time, one hour until the losers met at the quarry. She innocently typed “Eda Kaspbrak” in the search bar and saw the top result, a user by the name @ awkwardflowers . Richie clicked the username to view the profile, private _damnit_. But she knew it was Eda by the profile picture, a small 500x500 image of Eda holding an old scruffy dog. _Cute._ Edas profile description was short but made Richie smile, it was a quote. “I don't have blind faith 'cause I've got proof   
I know angels are real now that I've found you”(nicole dollanganger), with a little heart and bee emoji at the end. Richie knew it wasn't for her but her heart still warmed with the idea. _I wanna be Eda's angel._ Richie's finger hesitated over the ‘request to follow’ button. Would Eda think she's weird for following her? After all she went through all the trouble of searching for her, Eda hadn’t given Richie her insta. _Is that creepy?_ Richie opened the bag of chips and sighed, she ate a chip and requested to follow.

When Eda was home she gave her ma’ a kiss and before she could go upstairs her mom called her back. “So how was your first day of school Edna darling?” Her small eyes looked up at Edna from the recliner she sat in. “It was good ma’”, Eda smiled at her mother, a habit she formed out of necessity, for if she didn't she knew she would be punished. “Well i noticed you didnt take your little pack with you today Edna, why is that?”, her mother accused, edna stammered nervously. “I put it in my bag mama, didnt want to distract from this pretty dress you gave me”, she shook a little. “Oh, i see”, her mother, Sonia Kaspbrak, paused for a moment, “well please remember to wear it tomorrow sweetiepie, how else will you take your pills?”. She stopped, almost angry but said in a calm voice, “speaking of which, did you remember to take your pills?”, her calm was fake and Edna knew it. Eda lies through her teeth, “of course i did ma’, just put the pills in a little baggy and put them in my backpack today”.  Eda felt fear rise in her, she had stopped taking her ‘medicines’ weeks ago after finding out she didnt need them.  _ She had gone into the kitchen early one morning and when she was about to take her meds she had decided to read the labels. She blindly trusted her mother, mostly out of the fear she had instilled in her, but she was curious what the medicines she took really were anyways. Eda held the various pill bottles and read the labels, searching them up on her phone. Vitamins. All of them vitamins. Half of them vitamins that were only recommended for babies. She wasn't a baby. Her mother told her it was to calm her anxiety. Her mother had told her that they kept her alive. Her mother had told her that if she didn't take them she would develop a deadly disease. No. These were baby vitamins. Vitamins you crush up in baby food and spoon feed to an infant. Mother fucker. Eda had been so angry she had half the mind to go accuse her mother of her lies but instead settled for silent protest. She would never take her meds again. They were placebos _ . Her mother was like a bloodhound, she could smell lies a mile away, this fcf made Eda sweat. “Okay deary just checking, now go upstairs and do your homework, i will order take out”, her mother smiled too sweetly at her, a fake sweetness, a loveless sweetness. Eda headed upstares, put her bag on the floor and crashed on the bed. She look up at her ceiling, fake stars were still stuck up there from when she and her father put them there as a little kid. She missed her dad everyday. She started to tear up. Fuck nope not right now, no crying now Eda. She instead tried to think of the girl she met today, Richie. _Sweet Richie,_ she was like a vacation from madness for Eda, a sweet spot in her mind she could fall into and never come back. She smiled softly and closed her eyes, she tried to imagine Richie's face, remember the outlines that made it up. Eda loved Richie's nose the most, a focal point for a perfect piece of art, _a masterpiece_. Eda picked up her phone to turn on some music, she noticed a notification pop up. “@ richiethebitchie has requested to follow you”, her heart beat a little faster. She knew it was Richie from the name alone but it was confirmed by a profile icon of Richie making a stupid face. Eda smiled, goofy Richie. She accepted the follow request and followed Richie back. Richie had a public account, being the outgoing little shit she was, so Eda could look at all her pictures right away. Richie's instagram was an uncurrated mess, no color scheme at all, no filters, some of the pictures not being her own but instead textposts she’d found on Tumblr. Eda clicked the middle button to scroll through all of Richie's posts, the first on being of her and all her friends at the faire. Richie stood in the back next to a smiling Bill and uncomfortable Stan, her long arm managing to encircle them both with a tight squeeze. Her other arm was around Beverly, Bev was leaning over to give Richie a kiss on the cheek. Eda was mildly jealous but shook it off. Ben and Mike were squatting in front of them back to back, Charlie's angels style. The caption read “i love my losers”. They all looked so happy, and that made Eda feel warm inside. The next photo was actually a nice one. Richie held a guitar in her arms with her eyes closed, the lighting was dark and blue, reflecting off her glasses. The caption read “lesbians like a girl who can play guitar, right? (Candid photo by Bev the creep)”, that made Eda giggle. Richie looked so good even when caught off guard, Eda was convinced there wasn't a single angle she DIDN'T look hot in. Eda continued to scroll through, miscellaneous photos of Richie looking like a snack and a half mixed in with photos of her friends and shitty memes. Before she knew it she had reached the bottom of Richie's feed and it was time for dinner. 

An hour later Richie rolled off her bed and headed back downstairs. She kissed her mom goodbye and yelled “be back by 8!”, as she ran out the door. She booked it down to the quarry on her bike, headphones in and listening to Billy Joel's “Until the night”. When she arrived only Bev and Mike were there yet, she dropped her bike down on the hill and ran down to them, almost tripping over the sliding rocks. “Hey mikey wikey”, she beamed at him, “Hola senorita beverlita”, Bev snorted at that. “You seem to be in a good mood today”, Mike smiled at Richie, he was the only loser to get over 6ft so he towered over the already tall girl. “Well i sure am Mikey cuz i met the cutest girl in school today”, she rocked back and fourth on her feet like a child. “Richie has a schoolgirl crush on the new girl”, bev laughed and lit up a smoke, she took a puff and passed it to Richie. “ ‘Member Bevy, i dont do nicotine”, Richie still smiled, giddy and thinking about Eda. “Ah right right, i forgot you are miss morals. Miss morals who still smoked weed that is”, Beverly dead panned and took another drag. “Only cuz it has medical benefits! Plus it calms my ADHD, don't be so ableist you bully”, richie said sarcastically. Beverly sighed, “Jesus Rich you got me, im s real asshole aren't I”, Beverly deadpanned. “Sure are! Acceptance is the first step of recovery ya know”, Richie said slyly. Before Beverly could cleverly respond, Stan and Bill were stumbling down into the Quarry, holding hands as always. “Sup gaywads!”, Richie yelled even though they were already right next to her. “Jesus christ Richie you are even worse than usual”, Stan grumbled lovingly. “W-wh-why are ya so happy?”, Bill asked, knowing that a loud Richie was a happy Richie. “She had a crush on the new girl”, Mike and Bev said exasperatedly, it was uninteresting old news to the both of them by now. “Well, okay its more than a crush we are like, soulmates ya know? Whenever i see her we can't stop talking and she's so nice and cool”, Richie gushed. “Richie you have known this girl for how long? A single day? You barely know her”, Stan rolled his eyes. “R-r-Rich it takes time t-t-to truly know someone, you cant j-j-just rush into i-it”, Bill said this sweetly. “Do you not believe in love at first sight! Love knows no time limit”, Richie huffed, actually offended. “We support you no matter what Richie, you can rush into things however quickly you want”, Mike patted Richie on the back. “See guys! Mikey agrees with me!”, Richies smile resurfaced. “Support is not the same as agreeing but think what you will”, Mike shrugged, laughing. Beverly's phone buzzed, a text from Ben: “Cant make it, gotta help mom with dinner”. Beverly announced Ben's absence to the group and they headed off further into the quarry. Richie got out a joint from her pocket and lit up when they sat down under the shade of the tree. She lit up and passed it around, everyone taking hits but Mike who had to work later tonight and didnt want to smell like weed. The group eventually took their usual position, Richie lying on Bevs lap, Stan and Bill cuddling up, and Mike laying on his back infront of them looking up at the sky. They all talked about their first days back, telling tales of angry teachers and homework overkill despite it being the first day. By the time it was 7:50 the joint was used up and their clothes were covered in the chalky dirt of the quarry. They said their goodbyes and Richie biked back to her house.

That night, both Richie and Eda would lie in bed, thinking of one another. Thinking of eachothers eyes and smiles, but thinking the other wouldn't ever feel the same. They figured they had read the signals of the other wrongly, figured the other had to be taken or at least infatuated with someone else. Two hopeless romantics too chicken shit to possibly ever do anything about it out if the fear of rejection. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> fun facts about the characters in this AU:
> 
> \- Beverly and Richie dated briefly for two weeks back in seventh grade and constantly make fun of each other about it  
> \- Richie is ridiculously obsessed with Billy Joel and gets her life advice from his songs, this will come into play later  
> \- Stan and Bill have been dating since sophomore year when Stan asked him out through a shitty poem he wrote when the losers were at the quarry, bill still thinks this is sweet but the rest of the losers wont ever let him live it down and some times call him "Shakespeare" as a joke  
> \- Ben still likes Bev but knows it will never happen (cuz she hella gAy) so instead he's settled to be her wingman, helping her find the best partner she can because he still wants whats best for her  
> \- Mike is secretly a soundcloud rapper with a decent career  
> \- Richie once convinced the losers to start a band with her in freshman year, they made a CD and they were convinced they were gonna be big so they made 100 copies and besides the copy each loser owns the rest of them are still in Richie's basement  
> -Richie only smokes weed and makes fun of people who smoke nicotine, it makes no sense but she says weeds healthier  
> \- Eda loves scary movies, her favorite one being Scream because "it has a strong female lead,,, plus she's totally a lesbian"  
> \- Richie has a stuffed turtle pencil pouch that she carries in her backpack and calls it her "backpack pal",, its actually where she hides her weed


End file.
